Car-coupling



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T. .0. GARLI-NGTON.

GAR COUPLING.

Patented Dec. 5. 1882.

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UNITED STATES PATENT GEEICE.

THOMAS C. GARLINGTON, OF DADEVILLE, ALABAMA.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 268,396, dated December5, 1882,

Application filed July 14, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, THOMAS C. GARLING- TON,V I citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Dadeville, in the county of Tallapoosa and State ofAlabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inOar-Couplings; and I do hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same,reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, and to letters orfigures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

My invention relates to the class of carcouplings which use a linkcarried by one of the draw-heads, which is thrown forward when. the carscome together, and engages with the other draw-head; and it consists ofan improved construction and arrangement, which will first be fullydescribed, and then set forth in the claims.

Figure 1 is a partial elevation of the end of a car with my couplingattached. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of one of the draw-heads, the samethat is shown in Fig. l; and Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the otherdraw-head. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the coupling when connected,and Fig. 5 is a top view of Fig. 3.

The letter It designates a car-body. The two draw-heads are notinterchangeable and alike. Consequently each car has one form ofdraw-head at one end and the other form at the other. In order toprovide for the possibility of the ends of two cars coming together forconnection each having the same drawhead, I may have both draw-heads oneach end of each car, they being placed side by side, as close togetheras practicable, on either side of the center. Either pair of draw-headscan then be used.

A designates one draw-head, which is attached to oris a part oftheplateB. This plate slides vertically in the guides c of the backplate G, which is firmly bolted to the car-timbers. The plate B islocked in position by means of a pivoted latch-plate, D, the edge ofwhich engages with the notches b in the side of the plate B. Thelatch-plate is locked by means of the pin E, which is inserted behindthe latch-plate through a hole in the ears 0, between whichthelatoh-plateplays.' On the under side of the back plate 0 there areprojecting lugs cflbetween which the lever F is pivoted. The handle ofthis lever extends out to the side of the car, and it carries at itsinner end the rollerf, which bears against the under side of the plate Bwhen the lever is depressed for the purpose of raising it. It will thusbe seen that the draw-head A can be easily raised or lowered to adjustit to the proper level and looked in position. The draw-head Ais of thebook form, as shown, the link resting in the notch a. It has a verticalslot through its shank to receive the key G, and the under side of thedraw-head has a recess in which is hung the right-angled plate H,suspended from the end of its short arm from the pin h. The long arm hof this plate projects out in front and below the end of the draw-head,as clearly shown in Figs.2 and 5,and it is curved on its upper side, asshown. inserted in the slot through the shank of the draw-head, bearsagainst the plate H, and holds it up inits normal position. When the keyis removed the plate H will drop down into the position shown by dottedlines in Fig.5. The other part of the coupling, K, is directly attachedto a lock-plate, it, without provision being made for its verticaladjustment, and the said lock-plate is properly bolted to the car-frame.This draw-head hasa hook, k,and its end is forked, or has the sidewings, 10 between which the end of the draw-head A projects when thecars are coupled.

The coupling-link L is of the curved form shown in Figs. 3 and 5, and ismade with eyes on each side which journal on the pin M. The upper andlonger arm, 1, of the link is what couples with the draw-head A, whilethe shorter arm, I, hangs below the draw-head, and is made with theroller N at its end. The spring-hook O engages with the side of the linkand holds it back in position for coupling.

The operation of coupling is as follows: The several parts are set inthe positions, shown by Figs..2 and 3-that is, the link L is held up bythe spring 0, and the key G is in place, and, if necessary, thedraw-head A is adj usted vertically, as before described. The

The key Gr, when cars then approach each other, and, as the with thehook of the opposite draw-head, and

lower end, Z, of the link L strikes the end h of the plate H, the linkproper, l, is thrown forward, disengagingitself from the spring-holderO, and falls into the notch a. The cars being thus coupled, they cannotbe uncoupled without dropping the plate H, as the end of this plate,projecting forward in front of the short arm I of the link, will notpermit the long arm Zto be raised. To uncouple the cars, the key G iswithdrawn, then the plate H drops, and the link can be raised. Provisionmay be made for raising the key and link by a lever.

If a car provided with the draw-head K should come opposite a car havingthe ordinary linchpin-coupling, the connection can be easily made bycoupling with the link L in the usual way; and,on theotherhand,if a carprovided with the draw-head A comes opposite a coupling of the ordinaryconstruction a connection can be made with the common link by restingthe same in the notch a.

Having thus described my invention, what I.

a lower arm which strikes thelower projecting face of the saidoppositedraw-head, as and for the purpose set forth. i

2. In a car-coupler, the combination, with the draw-head A, of thepivoted plate H and key Gr, as for the purpose set forth.

3. Inacar-eoupler, thecombination,with the draw-head K, of a link, L,pivoted on a pin, M, and constructed with the coupling end I and thelower arm, 1, as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a car-coupler, the combin ation,with the draw-head K, of a link,L, pivoted on a pin,M, having the coupling end Z and the lower arm, 1,together with the spring-holder O, as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a car-coupler, the draw-head A and plate B,in combination with theback plate 0, having flanges o, with a locking device for fastening saiddraw-head plate, and a lever for raising the same, all substantially asand for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereofI at'fix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS C. GARLINGTON.

Witnesses R. A. J. CUMBEE, P. G.TRENT, Jr.

